Education:

B.S., Biology – Howard University Washington, D.C. – May 2024

Awards and Achievements:

Dean’s List – Howard University College of Arts and Sciences – 3.73 GPA  – Fall 2020 to Fall 2023
GAAN’s Fellowship Recipient – Spring 2025

Courses:

Bacteriophages, Genetics, Biotechnology, Evolution, Microbiology, Physics I&II, Organic Chemistry I&II, Biochemistry I&II lectures and labs
Microfluidics, Contemporary Biotechnology, Engineering Principles in Cell Biology

Laboratory Skills:

• Characterized, isolated, purified, amplified and extracted DNA, genomes and bacteriophages
• Applied knowledge of biology of microorganisms and their impact on the biotic and abiotic world to analyze host-microbe interactions
• Created and broke down chemical compounds, solutions and solvents
• Applied Physics concepts to measure physical properties and quantities
• Understand biotechnology applications and their design
• Familiar with regulatory, intellectual property, legal, ethical and societal implications of biotechnology
• Thorough knowledge in engineering concepts for quantitative analysis of physiochemical systems in context of cell biology
• Versed in application and theory of special fluid handling conditions related to biological systems
• Proficient in Gel electrophoresis, PCR, Infrared Spectroscopy, Thin Layer Chromatography
• Databases: Phages-DB, BLAST, NCBI, PECAAN, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis

Research:

Presented at Howard University and Virginia State University Research Conferences Spring 2024

Decoding Latent Autoimmune Disease (LADA) in African American Adult: A Comprehensive Study on the Role of PFKFB3 Gene and Pathways in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients

LADA or Type 1.5 diabetes mellitus shares qualities of T1 diabetes by damaging insulin producing cells and symptoms of Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) such as weight loss, blurry vision, excessive thirst and frequent urination. Research shows that 10-25% of patients diagnosed with T2DM are misdiagnosed and actually have LADA. African American patients are two times more likely to die from diabetes than their white peers.  Misdiagnosis is very prevalent among African American patients….. Blood was collected from 68 African American adults (59 were T2DM patients at Howard University and 9 healthy) between 45-65 years of age. Their RNA was isolated from blood samples and three analyses were conducted: transcriptomic, microarray and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. The transcriptome data displayed that there were a total of 135,750 transcripts with 217 genes showing significant (139 genes were downregulated and 78 were upregulated). The microarray data showed that PFKFB3 gene had inhibited expression in T2DM African American patients (Figure 1). The downregulation of the gene led to the upregulation of AMPK, Sirtuin-1 protein, and glucose metabolism disorder signaling pathways (Figure 2). The activated associated diseases and disorders were hypertension, hyperglycemia, insulin resistance and impaired glucose tolerance. The inhibited associated disorders during PFKFB3 gene downregulation were glycolysis of cells, weight gain, concentration of fructose-2,6-diphosphate and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (Figure 3). This research permitted better comprehension of PFKFB3 in relation to T2DM, glycemic control for T2DM patients and that the inhibition of specific gene causes an increase in T2DM misdiagnosis. This research never recruited categorized LADA patients. Type 1.5 diabetes is fairly new disease, the relationship between PFKFB3 and the African American population was difficult to identify since most studies have been conducted in patients of European descent. Most PFKFB3 studies are done on rats and mice. My HU research lab and I were able to establish a new outlook on identifying LADA and separating it from T2DM in African American patients.